Chapter 8, Problem 1FD

Summary Introduction

Case summary: RK had a solution for the challenge faced by retail banks which is to sell money. He suggested that cross-selling should be done. N bank got merged with WF bank and RK became the President and CEO of WF bank. The most important goal according to him was revenue growth and it can be achieved by cross-selling. Bankers were given targets and bonuses for better selling. The bank’s stocks saw a 67% increase from this transformation. This culture however created a lot more pressure on bankers. When problems started to emerge, RK was not the President and JS was the President. When the problem was investigated, rogue bankers were found and hence they were fired. The WF bank was fined by OCC for opening fraud accounts for which WF bank blamed the employees and not the culture. However, the inside story was different as employees told that due to immense pressure all this fraud happened and somehow bank was aware of this. When JS resigned, TS became CEO, and he removed the label of stores from banks and changed the incentive plans. The focus was now customer satisfaction and sales goals were also reduced. However, other scandals did happen in banks that were charging many customers for insurance who were taking car loans. The bank suffered a loss in reputation and ranking. Also, many penalties were charged.

To find:The underlying problem in the situation from the perspective of regulator.